Duane Maust crossed a cultural divide and Elaine Miller crossed the street. Together, they pastor a Mennonite church and the surrounding community in Meridian, Mississippi.
When Duane Maust from rural Michigan and Elaine Miller from the Black Prairie region of Mississippi fell in love, they had no clue how the melding of their lives would change the world for so many others.
“You can imagine how huge my learning curve was—me, a White boy from up North, who had never spoken with an African American,” said Duane during an interview at their 110-acre farmstead outside Meridian. Elaine smiled and added, “And it’s rather unbelievable that a little farm girl from rural Mississippi who milked cows is now a co-pastor. I guess that just goes to show that God truly can transform anyone.”
They joined Jubilee Mennonite Church, which began as a house fellowship. In the early years, Jubilee received financial and coaching support from Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency to Mennonite Mission Network. For 15 years, the Mausts served in lay leadership roles before being ordained as co-pastors in 1997.
They believe that God’s jubilee—setting broken people free to love and serve God and others—grows best in loving relationships and shared leadership. A culture of mutual community was forged well by earlier leaders, and the co-pastors encourage its continuation. “Our congregation is not just racially diverse,” Duane said. “Members also fall along the political spectrum.
And we have those with sound economic means as well as those who live on the edge.” And at Jubilee, those who lead are not those who have been there the longest. “Everyone who steps in the door is offered a job and is invited to shape what goes on here,” Elaine said.
The Mausts have helped Jubilee to expand to 100 members. Contributing to that growth is the purchase of a building, Jubilee’s strong contingent of young adults, and the freedom that folks feel to come as they are.
Caring for souls, near and far
Elaine grew up in the community that surrounds Jubilee. “I was in fourth grade during the first integration of the county’s public school system,” she said. “I stood in between White kids and Black kids in the playground line so they would not have to touch each other. Meanwhile, I made friends with both. That seems to have been my place in life ever since.” Two businesses and a woodworking shop helped widen the community people Duane and Elaine knew beyond the congregation.
Duane cruises the neighborhood on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. He befriends people who don’t go to church, and many call him Pastor. One man who received prayer from Duane during a critical illness gives him a tithe check every month, though the man has never attended a Jubilee service.
And Elaine visits needy and lonely neighbors. To reach their doorsteps, she must walk streets that some consider unsafe. She also makes hospital visits to people who are not Jubilee members but are beloved of God.
One such beloved person is Sue [not real name], a former crack-cocaine addict, who was sexually molested as a child by her pastor and has suffered despair and estrangement from her family. She first connected with Jubilee when she came to receive a state-funded food distribution. Later in their relationship, Elaine arrived at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. to pray with Sue before a surgery.
“From day one, I could talk to Pastor Elaine, and that released some pain in me that I had refused to acknowledge,” Sue said. “I thought the world and God had forsaken me, and I had become a shell. But now I have hope, and I can see a future. I have found a home in Jesus here at Jubilee. Here, they don’t care about all I have done, or am doing. They just love me.”
Though loving others holds complexities, the couple said their mission in Christ doesn’t get more basic than the cry of Sue’s heart. They have learned from their own experience that where one comes from matters less than where one is going in God.
